Re: build reproducibility

Randy Dunlap
2021-10-17T18:32:42Z

On 10/17/21 11:12 AM, Julia Lawall wrote:
> Hello,
>
> If I do the following:
>
> git clean -dfx
> cp saved_config .config
> make olddefconfig && make && make modules_install && make install
>
> Should I always end up with the same kernel, regardless of the kernel that
> is currently running on the machine?
>
> I see a large performance difference between Linux 5.10 and all versions
> afterwards for a particular benchmark. I am unable to bisect the problem
> eg between 5.10 and 5.11, because as soon as I come to a kernel that gives
> the bad performance, all of the kernels that I generate subsequently in
> the bisecting process (using the above commands) also have the bad
> performance.
>
> It could of course be that I have completely misinterpreted the problem,
> and it has nothing to do with the kernel. But I have tested the program a
> lot when only working on variants of Linux 5.9. I only start to have
> problems when I use versions >= 5.11.

Hi,

My "guess" is that this has something to do with the build
reusing some current file(s) that need to be rebuilt.
I.e., adding a "make clean" or "make proper" might be needed.

I say this only because sometimes I cannot even reproduce
a build that has errors or warnings unless I prefix it with
make clean or mrproper. (i.e., nothing to do with booting
and running the new kernel)
Even though the .config file has changed and I do
"make olddefconfig", the same build errors do not show up
unless I do the clean or mrproper step also.

--
~Randy